More than 30 businesses and nonprofit organizations will be at the second Special Needs Resource Fair Saturday, April 23, sponsored by the Wake Forest Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources Department and Richland Creek Community Church. The fair will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Those vendors specialize in a range of services, including therapeutic, health and wellness, educational, recreational, music, financial and legal, to children and adults with special needs. The fair is designed to offer local families the opportunity to learn about dozens of programs, services, products and resources, all in one location. “As the needs and demands of residents with special needs continue to grow, the Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources Department is committed to working diligently to continue meeting those needs,” PRCR Director Ruben Wall said. For more information, contact Recreation Program Superintendent Monica Lileton at 919-435-9563 or mlileton@wakeforestnc.gov.  

Wake Forest has a love affair with trees, and that love affair will be on display Saturday, April 23, for a day-long expo, celebration and tree give-away at E. Carroll Joyner Park. It promises to be fun for the whole family. The Arbor Day Expo and Tree Seedling Giveaway will begin at 11 a.m. when members of the town’s Urban Forestry Board, town staff and volunteers including certified tree stewards, will give out 1,000 seedlings, including Virginia Pine, Chicaswa Plum, Yellow Poplar, Crabapple and White Oak, which will be limited to one to a person. The free trees will be handed out as long as the supply lasts. Staff and volunteers will help people determine which tree or trees is best suited for their yards. People are asked to bring a reusable shopping tote or some other environmentally friendly bag for the trees. Finally, Urban Forester Jennifer and volunteers will

On Earth Day, Friday, April 22, St. John’s Episcopal Church will sponsor a special program at 7 p.m. about the need for Christians to respond to climate change, a program free and open to the public. The Rev. Dr. Jerry Cappel, the Environmental Network Coordinator for Province IV of The Episcopal Church and President of Kentucky Interfaith Power and Light, will lead a program focusing on two pastoral teachings about the environment: A Time of Grace for the Whole World, created in 2011 by the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church; and Laudato Si, published in 2015 by Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic Church. The program itself is entitled “The Appointed Time for the Church: Bishops Speak on Behalf of the Environment.” “Both of these teachings contain clarion calls for the people of God to amend their lives and align their faith to the challenges the environmental crisis

This year’s arts and crafts street fair in downtown Wake Forest, Meet in the Street on Saturday, May 7, will have some changes and needs some volunteers. The biggest change is that there will be a free continuous shuttle service to help solve the parking problems. Visitors can park at the Wake Forest Target store at 12000 Retail Drive and hop onto one of the two YMCA buses for the short trip to Brooks Street across from La Foresta, which is just one block from the blocked-off South White Street. The shuttle buses will run from 9:30 a.m. until the last trip from downtown back to the Target parking lot at 5:30 p.m. Meet in the Street runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. all along South White Street and the volunteers are needed for two-hour shifts to help check in the vendors, help the vendors unload quickly, guard the

You will want a hat and maybe some white gloves, but they are not necessary when you attend the Wake Forest Garden Club’s annual Mad Hatters Tea Party on Saturday, May 14, at the Wake Forest Historical Museum, 414 North Main Street. Along with the plated afternoon tea that runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., there are garden seminars, an art market and a classic car show from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The art market and car show are free events open to everyone but you do need tickets for the tea party and seminars. Tickets are $15 each and available at The Cotton Company and the Wake Forest Chamber of Commerce now through the show and at the museum on the day as long as tickets last. A special feature this year is music by an ensemble from the Raleigh Symphony.